Hot N Cold
by Decepti-Kitty
Summary: Lori Ash is from Gotham. And for a reason that makes her worry about Batman forces her to Dakota. She teams up with Static and Gear under the guise Coldfront and meets our favorite hotheaded Bang Baby. Hotstreak/OC
1. Fire and Ice Meet

_Hot N' Cold_

_Chapter 1: The Icy Beauty_

Lori Ash sighed. The car ride to Dakota was taking forever. Lori probably would have died of boredom if it hadn't been for her best friend, Maxine Kent, sitting beside her. Max was a lot like her father, Clark. Or, as he's better known in Metropolis, Superman. Ever the optimist. And Max, at the moment, was the only reason Lori was still sane.

"So, how much longer, Mom?" Max leaned forward in her seat, looking at her mother, Lois.

"Another hour, I think…" Lois replied.

Lori sighed again. She didn't really want to go to Dakota, but she couldn't live in Gotham anymore. Her parents had been killed recently. She knew it was some dick that lived in the slums of the city, but she wanted to blame some big name criminals so she could feel that her parents died at the hands of someone who was cool. But, alas, fate said no. Lori had another reason for leaving. Batman. The Caped Crusader was a good friend of Lori's mother, a heroine by the name of Blizzard (Susan Ash to others). Lori had inherited her mother's powers and mastered them at an early age. But, Lori had used her powers to kill the man who shot her parents.

She left because she didn't want to invoke the wrath of the Dark Knight.

"Please, Mom? Can I stay with Lori?" Max begged. She had been pleading with her mother to let her stay in Dakota with her best friend but her parents were unmoving.

"No, Max. Maybe in a year or so, but not now. So, stop it. You're behaving like a five year old."

Lori smiled to herself. She missed her parents. But, she was not sorry about killing that man. It had been an accident, but she had wanted it to happen. She couldn't help but wonder… Was it an accident?

It had been a few hours since Lori had been left at the apartment building alone. Max and her mother had started back to Metropolis. Lori ditched her bags on the couch and went out to the balcony. Nice park view. She smiled, resting her arms on the railing. She closed her eyes, basking in the sun.

The loud sound of a siren drove Lori out of her blissful moment. She frowned. Here too? She looked around to find the cop cars and saw a ball of fire get hurled into the air at a guy surfing on a disk. Oh yeah. Clark had said that Dakota had some super-powered teens called Metahumans, or 'Bang Babies' as they called themselves.

Deciding to begin her hero career, Lori went back inside, changing into her hero guise: a lavender sweater, navy blue scarf, blue skirt, icy blue tights and her teal blue visor. Her short black hair was messy. Good. She liked it messy. She looked herself over. Smiling at everything being in place, Lori ran back out onto the balcony and leapt off, creating ice wings to help her fly. Coldfront was in the house, baby.

She looked around at the city below her. It was a lot like Gotham. Well, a much more bright and social Gotham. Lori easily found the surfing disk guy. He was now joined by a teched out blond dude. Both were cute. But, the real hottie (pun intended) was the red head on the ground that was shooting fireballs at the heroes in the sky.

Lori landed behind the red head and threw a snowball she had conjured. The fiery teen whirled around to face his new assailant.

"Who the fuck are you?" He growled dangerously.

Lori gave him a cocky smirk. "I'm new in town, The name's Coldfront, hothead." She tossed another snowball from one hand to the other, her posture dropping into a childish pose, head cocked to the side. "Wanna play?"

The red head mirrored the smirk. "Play? Okay, dollface, you're on."

"Dollface?" Lori frowned, arching an eyebrow. "Not an attractive pick up line."

"Well, I'm not trying to flirt."

Lori looked him over. This guy _was_ pretty sexy. Well, in the bad boy kind of way. "Not your type, Hot stuff?" She asked playfully.

"That's _Hotstreak_, you walking icecube," he roared, hurling a fireball at her. She easily evaded, performing a small cartwheel to the left. "Besides, I don't do heroes."

The other two hero boys looked at each other. Who was this girl? She was clearly on their side, but where'd she come from?

Coldfront danced about, maneuvering easily around Hotstreak's attacks. She jumped up, flipping nimbly in the air and landed on the criminal's broad shoulders.

Hotstreak's hands shot up, grabbing Coldfront's ankles. Nice legs, he thought with a smirk. Too bad they had to get skinned up.

"Shit!" She hissed as he slammed her to the ground.

One of the heroes, the big name in the city, Static, stepped forward. "Hey, uh… Coldfront, was it? You need a hand there?"

"Yeah," Lori grunted, kicking Hotstreak in his kneecap. There was a slight cracking sound as he howled in pain and went down. She stood and dusted herself off. "Some applause would be nice." She grinned, holding out a hand. "Static, right? The Big Bat mentioned you to my mom a while back."

Static blushed. "Batman mentioned me?" Before his question was answered, the cops came up to them with the now cuffed Francis Stone, who was giving Coldfront a 'you-are-so-dead' look. She blew it off.

"Great work, Ms…." A young female cop began.

"Coldfront. I'm new in town, so I thought I'd pitch in."

The four cops that stood before the heroes blushed at the sight of Coldfront's charming smile and welcomed her to the city. Static and his best friend, Gear, found themselves entranced by the smile and returned it. A new gal pal on the team seemed like a good idea, and Coldfront wasn't as annoying as Shebang.

As the officers of the law led the violent pyrokinetic away, he looked over his shoulder. "Yo! Baby Blue!"

Coldfront responded to her new nickname by turning to him. "You bellowed?" She replied.

"This ain't over, Blue, not by a long shot. When I get out of lockdown, I'll be looking for you. Next time you get in my way, you can consider yourself steam."

"And you can consider yourself full of hot air."

"Bitch," Francis spat venomously. "I can't wait to get my hands on you again…"

The female officer smacked the back of his head. "Shut it, Stone! You are in no position to make any threats." The teen opened his mouth to make a smartass comment, but remained quiet.

"Hey, don't let him get to ya, Coldfront," a somewhat geeky voice commented. Lori turned to see the teched out blond. She smiled.

"And you must be Gear. Nice hardware. You all set up for WiFi, too?" She giggled, shaking his hand.

Gear laughed. "Hey, good one. Yeah, you're wisecracking is going to fit in well here. Welcome to Dakota." Static laughed with his friend and the new heroine who was strong with a razor's wit. He nodded his agreement at the welcome.

Lori Ash smiled widely at how easily she was accepted into the city. Maybe Dakota wouldn't be so bad a place after all…

**So, here's chapter one. Hope you enjoy so far! Please review! I crave reviews and it's just so fun to read them. :)**


	2. Not So Glamorus First Day

_Hot N Cold_

_Chapter 2_

_Not so glamorous first day_

"Wow… Impressive school…" Lori murmured as she stared up at Dakota High. "I should find someone and bet that I get lost…" She walked up the steps, admiring how clean the building was. It was a chapel compared to the ghetto school she had attended just a few short weeks ago. Rags to riches school wise. Now her life needed to turn that way.

She strolled through the halls, searching for the principal's office. A banging sound caught her attention. Lori looked up towards the sound and saw a blond boy get slammed into a locker. A black boy with cool dreads was pulling on the assailant's harm, clearly trying to help his friend. As for the assailant… Lori's eyes widened. It had been nearly a week, but there was no mistaking that blazing red hair and brilliant green irises. It was Hotstreak.

"This will make a poor entrance, but oh, well." She smirked and approached the scene. "Hey, Red. You get off shoving guys against the wall?"

Hotstreak's head shot up and turned to glare at the owner of the insult clearly directed at him. "'Scuse me?" He growled low.

Lori looked behind her innocently before turning back to him. "You heard me, homie."

"Didn't think I heard you right. Guess I did. The fuck do you want, bitch?" Hotstreak released his hold on the blond's collar and let him slump to the ground before stalking up to Lori. "Got a problem?"

She merely smiled. "Depends. You got a problem with a girl kicking your ass?" She tossed her backpack against the closest locker and cracked her knuckles,

He tossed his head. "You really want to do that? Looks like you're new. Which means, I gotta teach you the rules. _My rules._ I'm the boss here."

Lori rolled her eyes, thoroughly unimpressed. "Really? The boss? More like the bully." She hated bullies. She hated assholes even more. And guess what this guy was? That's right; he was both. _And_ he was a criminal. Triple whammy red head, for the win.

Francis looked her over. She was cute. And she looked familiar. Why did she look familiar? He hadn't seen her before today. Maybe it was the messy black hair. It made him think of Baby Blue. That damned Coldfront. And now, this little cutie was trying to play hero. "Well, I'm many things, babe." He smirked.

Her left eye twitched. She hated being called 'babe' by narcissistic jackasses like Hotstreak. "Clearly." She replied, dropping into a fighting position.

The criminal snickered. "You really want to do this? Fine, I'm in, ba—" He was cut off by a sharp right hook to the jaw and he went down. Francis placed a hand to his cheek and looked up at her in shock.

The spectators looked on in stunned silence. Very few had dared fight with F-Stop, and those that did weren't of the fairer sex. This girl who came out of nowhere was taking on Hotstreak, one of the most dangerous Bang Babies. On her own. She wouldn't last.

F-Stop snarled and got to his feet, glaring darkly at the pale female. "Lucky shot. It won't happen again." He lunged at her, tackling Lori to the ground. He wasn't above hitting girls and this chick was just asking for it.

Lori hit the ground and winced as the impact knocked the wind out of her. She brought a hand up and pushed at his face, trying to pry him off. She shifted all her weight and pushed, flipping Hotstreak so that she was now on top of him. Lori pulled her arm back, preparing for another punch when Francis brought his foot up and planted it firmly on her stomach before delivering a forceful kick to the girl, throwing her into a locker.

She groaned and shook her head to clear the dizziness that had settled in. If she could use her powers, the red head would be out cold, no pun intended. She stood up and growled, jumping at Hotstreak, swiping her nails across his cheek. He hissed in pain, backhanding her hard. The fight continued for a few more moments, drawing to a close when Francis had Lori pinned to the lockers.

His lips curled into a sneer. "What'd I tell ya?" He bowed his head to laugh shakily. The new girl had certainly given him a run for his money. A flash by Lori's foot caught his attention while he was looking down. His eyes widened and he gave an impressed whistle. "So… Princess is packing?" He smiled as he bent to pick up the item. He held up a pocketknife that was lying at the girl's feet. "What's this?"

Lori stared wide-eyed at the knife. She had forgotten she brought the blade with her. She looked down to the side, not meeting the gaze of the red head that had her pinned. "An old habit. Let go of me." She growled.

"Oh, I don't think—"

"FRANCIS STONE!" A stern voice called.

Hotstreak groaned. "Shit." He released his hold on his opponent and turned, stalking out of the building.

Lori blinked in confusion and looked at the two guys she had tried to help. "What was that?" She asked. The blond opened his mouth to reply, but an older woman approached.

"Young lady, are you Malory Ash?" It was clear by the immediate scattering of the students that this woman was the principal. Lori nodded, bending to pick up the knife. The principal frowned. "My office, now." She turned on her heel and lead Lori away.

She hung her head as she sat down in the chair in front of the principal's desk. Having the knife was a force of habit from when she was in Gotham. The school she went to wasn't the safest and, out of habit, she had brought the pocketknife. She hadn't even realized she had done it.

The principal was seated across from Lori and offered a smile. "Ms. Ah, since you are a new student, I'd like to give you the opportunity to explain yourself. For both the fight, and the knife."

Lori nodded and carefully explained the situation. Every so often, the principal would nod her head in understanding, acknowledging that Lori had intended no harm in having the knife and had even less intention of using it. "So, you see… It's an old habit I'm trying to break from."

"For not using the knife, I'll let you off easy. A week suspension, starting tomorrow. And as for the fight, I thank you for keeping Stone from harming the students." She stood. "But, that is a three day suspension on top of the week. New student or not, I cannot offer special treatment. Now, go to the rest of your classes, and ten days from tomorrow, you may come back." With that, the principal dismissed Lori. Her knife was returned to her and Lori stuffed it back into her boot.

The rest of the day was fairly normal, aside from the compliments she had gotten for fighting Hotstreak. She had even talked to the two she helped. The blond called himself Richie Foley and the one with the dreads was Virgil Hawkins. They asked about what the exchanged numbers and decided to hang out sometime during the week after school.

Lori was glad to have made two friends so quickly. She also viewed the ten day suspension as a blessing in disguise. It would give her time to finish unpacking and straightening up her new apartment. But, no rest for the wicked.

After school, police sirens blared and whined through the streets. Lori said goodbye to her new friends and walked off quickly. She turned down an alley and dawned her Coldfront gear. She set off towards the sound, crossing paths with Dakota's resident heroes; Static and Gear. She smiled and waved in greeting, joining them as they flew.

Ebon and Talon were the crooks of the day. Ebon was a Bang Baby who could meld into shadows, create portals and distort his own shape. Talon was a young woman with wings. Her voice could produce harsh sound waves and feathers covered her body. Coldfront scanned the ground, curious to see if Hotstreak was in on this little score. She didn't see him.

Via the combined efforts of the three heroes, Ebon and Talon went into lockdown. Lori smiled at her companions. "Fun. We should do it again sometime."

Static laughed. "We should."

The techno-hero turned to Static and whispered something to his partner. Static nodded and Coldfront tilted her head in curiosity. Gear looked at her and grinned widely. "Congratulations, Coldfront. Welcome to the team."

Lori blinked and smiled. "Thanks…" She reached up and removed her visor. She decided to trust her new friends with her real identity. "Malory Ash. Lori to my friends, Coldfront to criminals. Nice to meet you."

The two seemed surprised that she had revealed who she was to them and they decided to trust her as well, removing their own masks. "We met earlier today," Static said, revealing himself as Virgil Hawkins. Lori was in shock that Static was Virgil. She was even more shocked by Gear's identity.

Richie Foley smiled sweetly at Lori. "Yeah, thanks for helping us." Lori could understand why they didn't buck up to Francis, given they knew the rules of the school and couldn't take the risk for the sake of their grades, so she didn't ask why they hadn't defended themselves.

"It must be fate, our meeting at school and when I first got here." She smiled and the three parted ways, returning to their hero guises and flew off. Lori hung back and hummed, unaware that someone had seen Static and Gear leave and found her. She put her visor back on and headed home, never noticing the burning emerald eyes that had seen her without her disguise.


End file.
